EXCLUSIVE – AIRING FOR PERRY – POLITICO's Maggie Haberman reports: "GrowPAC, a group founded by former New York Senate candidate David Malpass, will air radio ads in Iowa urging people to write Perry's name onto the Ames Straw Poll ballot. 'President Obama is making things worse. We need a president who will stop this,' Malpass says in the spot. 'Iowa has a chance to turn things around for America. At the Ames Straw Poll write in Rick Perry, he can win and make America secure again. I worked for Ronald Reagan and I know how countries create growth and jobs. Let’s give Rick Perry a chance.' The ads will air in stations in the markets surrounding Ames, officials said."

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BREAKING IN THE HOUSE – MARSHALL ARDOR: Nevada Treasurer Kate Marshall will become the first House candidate of the 2012 cycle to receive a full endorsement from EMILY's List. The nod opens the door for Marshall, who already received "On the List" status from the organization, to receive heavier national support from the influential Democratic women's group. Marshall is competing in a fall special election for the seat formerly held by Sen. Dean Heller. In a statement, EMILY's List president Stephanie Schriock called Marshall an "uncompromising leader who has an unwavering commitment to job creation in Nevada and a proven record of sound financial management."

THE DEBT FIGHT – CROSSROADS IS BACK – A little more than two weeks after its initial strafing run in five key battleground states hosting 2012 Senate contests, Crossroads GPS is going back on the air. The outsize conservative super PAC is returning to Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and Ohio Tuesday where it will pound Senate incumbents over the debt ceiling debate in the second phase of its campaign. The tagline in Ohio: "Tell Sherrod Brown, we've got to take away President Obama's blank check." POLITICO’s David Catanese has the story and the ad here: http://politi.co/oyZZSx

SNEAK PEEK — NRCC TARGETS WU CASH — The National Republican Congressional Committee will begin blasting Democrats who have received campaign cash from Wu. It's a page out of the scandal playbook, a standard practice rolled out for other scandal-tainted Democrats like Charles Rangel and Anthony Weiner. One NRCC release asks, "Will Kurt Schrader (D-OR) silently stand with his Democrat colleague, or return Wu’s $4,300 campaign contribution? Despite an ethics investigation into the allegations that David Wu sexually assaulted a young woman, Kurt Schrader has yet to return thousands of dollars in campaign cash from his embattled colleague. If Kurt Schrader does not donate these campaign contributions, he will be silently condoning Wu’s disgusting behavior."

DEBT CEILING DUEL – “Parties Head to Showdown as Obama Warns of a ‘Crisis’” – “The Democratic-led Senate and Republican-led House on Monday barreled toward a showdown on competing plans to cut spending and raise the debt limit as a resolution to the intensifying crisis remained farther from sight just one week before a possible federal default…It was a day of legislative chess moves, back-to-back party caucuses and closed-door meetings that ended with a nationally televised presidential address and a rebuttal by the House speaker, John A. Boehner. Their separate speeches reflected that the two sides are farther apart than ever,” reports the New York Times. http://nyti.ms/nlV3By

2012 TALKER –“PERRY INCHES CLOSER TO RUN” – Last week, Rick Perry did a five-city California tour. This week, the governor has meetings in the Texas capital with a group of elected officials from Arkansas, and with another group from Tennessee and Georgia. He’s also hosting a group of national donors. Next week, he’s set to sit down with a different set of bundlers. “Rick Perry is poised to shake up the GOP presidential race,” writes POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin. http://politi.co/rerZzc

PERRY POLLING — STRONG IN FLORIDA — As the Texas governor’s presidential bid takes shape, another poll shows him running competitively in a key state. American Research Group has Rick Perry on top among Florida Republicans with 16 percent of the vote. The rest of the field: Michele Bachmann, 15 percent, Mitt Romney 15 percent, Sarah Palin 13 percent, Herman Cain 11 percent, Rudy Giuliani 7 percent. No other candidate nets more than 4 percent; Jon Huntsman’s at 1 percent. Read the top lines here: http://bit.ly/mFoBQ0

OBAMA POLLING – WARNING BELLS — “More than a third of Americans now believe that President Obama’s policies are hurting the economy, and confidence in his ability to create jobs is sharply eroding among his base,” according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. “The survey also found that Americans harbor negative feelings toward congressional Republicans. Roughly as many people blame Republican policies for the poor economy as they do Obama. But 65 percent disapprove of the GOP’s handling of jobs, compared to 52 percent for the president.” Obama: Approve 47% Disapprove 48% (Last: Approve 47% Disapprove 49%). http://wapo.st/nVta5D

THE MINNESOTA TWINS – DAY 2 – Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty were at it again Monday on the trail, with Pawlenty noting “she has a record for saying things that are off the mark.” The Sioux City Journal headline: “Pawlenty says Bachmann gets her facts on him wrong.” http://bit.ly/nUyVa6 The Bachmann camp, forwarding a lengthy document, responded: "Our statement stands. Governor Pawlenty has yet to point out one comment we have made that is incorrect." http://politi.co/pAX2os

STAFF CLIP–N-SAVE – KNIVES OUT FOR NICK: You knew it was coming. First, the Huntsman campaign warned aides in an email against taking part in profiles about themselves—and cited a Washington Post story about Pawlenty campaign manager Nick Ayers as an example of the kind of piece to avoid. Then came a New York Times/CNBC “10 Questions” video interview with Ayers. Now there’s this Matt Lewis story about the high-profile operative: “Why Nick Ayers is the most hated campaign operative in America” http://bit.ly/prd2eO

STATE MOVES SPARK MAP ANXIETY: The New York Times reports: “Even as the Republican presidential contenders zigzag through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, an uncertain and potentially unwieldy primary schedule in subsequent states is alarming party leaders, who fear that the voting could start earlier, last longer and complicate efforts to confront President Obama next year…The 2012 presidential race is the first to fall under new rules from the Republican National Committee, which had intended the contests to start in February, a month later than in 2008. But at least a half dozen states are threatening to defy the rules and move up their primaries.” See the graphic here: http://nyti.ms/pFpvDI

BACHMANN TO L.A. – ‘SHE IS TOTAL ENERGY’ – Michele Bachmann will speak at the California Republican Party’s annual fall convention, the state GOP announced Monday. The conference, slated for Sept. 16-18 at the J.W. Marriott in Los Angeles, is expected to drawn more than 1,000 GOP activists in the delegate rich state. "She is total energy,'' said state GOP chair Tom Del Beccaro, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "She'll be a rock star. She'll ignite the place.'' http://bit.ly/pY0Umi

CHRISTIE GOES TO IOWA — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s non-presidential tour took him to Des Moines Monday, where he spoke at the Iowa Education Summit and talked briefly with reporters afterwards. His message: he’s still not running in 2012, and this trip wasn’t about laying groundwork for 2016. The scene suggested otherwise. The Des Moines Register’s top political columnist Kathie Obradovich live-tweeted his speech; his photo adorned the front of the paper’s website Monday evening. GOP state Rep. Rich Anderson after Christie’s 30-minute speech: “This was an appearance in lieu of the straw poll.” More from the Register http://bit.ly/qItULC

THE $6.7 MILLION MAN – NEWT DISCLOSES FINANCES – Newt Gingrich has a net worth of at least $6.7 million, according to financial disclosure forms released Monday. That figure is considerably higher than his last filing in 2006, when the former House speaker and his wife Callista reported a net worth between $873,000 and $2.4 million. Gingrich, one of the first candidates to release his financial disclosure form, noted this in his forms: his $1 million credit line at Tiffany’s, which attracted considerable media notice earlier this year, was closed out last year. http://lat.ms/mSeyD9

WHAT THE CANDIDATES ARE UP TO: While Tim Pawlenty continues his RV tour of Iowa, Rick Santorum launches his 50-city, three- week, "Courage to Fight for American Values" Iowa tour Tuesday. On tap for Santorum Tuesday: Ankeny, Boone, Ft. Dodge, Storm Lake, Sibley. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney will be in D.C., attending a "Lawyers for Romney" luncheon fundraiser (insert joke here). Jon Huntsman is headed to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he’ll speak as part of "Leading Voices in Politics and Policy" series. The enterprising Dartmouth College Democrats are already prepped for him: They’re releasing a backgrounder blaming him for a rise in in-state tuition at the University of Utah.

STRAW POLL BUZZ – PAUL WANTS AMES WIN: Ron Paul, whose followers have mastered the unofficial straw poll format and have engineered numerous victories in the past two presidential election seasons, appeared to raise the stakes for his performance in the Ames straw poll. “I wished I could say I’m the front-runner… But the truth is that we can do and will do very, very well and hopefully come in first.” Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson has the audio here: http://bit.ly/nGWSR7

HOW RON PAUL ROLLS – “It’s a two-hour drive between Ames and Cedar Rapids, two key Iowa cities for Republican presidential candidates competing in the state that will host the first balloting next year. Ron Paul flew by private jet. The hop between campaign appearances yesterday by the Texas congressman and Federal Reserve opponent aboard a Westwind jet is symbolic of the heightened resources and support he enjoys, compared with his quixotic bid four years ago,” reports Bloomberg News. Read it here: http://bloom.bg/oY2PWf

JON HUNTSMAN, EMAIL PUGILIST – Jon Huntsman's camp recently promised to take a more aggressive tack against both President Obama and GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney. And it sort of delivered, in the form of an email Monday titled, “The Romney-Obama Budget Plan: Raise Taxes.” From Huntsman's statement: “The way that Mitt Romney solved budget deficits in Massachusetts looks very similar to what President Obama would enact today if our Republican leadership in Congress wasn’t standing strong for the American taxpayer. ... “Republican primary voters will also face a historic choice — do they want to nominate a candidate who adopted President Obama’s budget approach as governor of Massachusetts?” It's Huntsman's first direct shot at Romney, after some false starts, quips and jabs taken by aides. http://nyti.ms/nGwJ1p

HOUSE SIREN – A DEM-FREE ARKANSAS DELEGATION? – Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross’ announcement Monday that he will not seek a 7th term in 2012 has raised a troubling prospect for Democrats—could the state’s House delegation go all-Republican after the 2012 elections? Once home to prominent and long-serving Democratic figures like J. William Fulbright, Dale Bumpers and David Pryor--and the launching pad for Bill Clinton’s political career—Arkansas has been hostile terrain for Democrats in recent years. http://politi.co/mUGEe7

WU WATCH — “NOTHING ILLEGAL” — Rep David Wu (D-Ore.) admitted he “did not use good judgment” during a sexual encounter with the teenage daughter of a family friend last Thanksgiving, but claimed to have “done nothing illegal.” Wu made the comments to Rep. John Larson (Conn.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, during a 40-minute meeting the two men had Monday afternoon, according to POLITICO’S John Bresnahan and Jonathan Allen. “Wu refused to answer any press questions about the alleged “unwanted sexual encounter” with the teenage girl as he left the House floor Monday evening. ‘I’m trying to take care of the interests of my family,’ Wu said. He then drove off in the car of Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.).” http://politi.co/pb08tw

CODA – QUOTE OF THE DAY: Iowa GOP state Rep. Kevin Koester after Chris Christie’s speech to the Iowa Education Summit: “It smells like a campaign to me.” http://bit.ly/qItULC

Authors:

About The Author

Charles Mahtesian is Politico’s national politics editor. He comes to Politico after five years as the editor of National Journal’s Almanac of American Politics, the biennial book often referred to as “the bible of American politics.”

Prior to joining the Almanac, he spent eight years as a national correspondent for Governing magazine, where he covered state legislatures, governors and urban politics.

He began his career reporting on elections and congressional redistricting for Congressional Quarterly, where he was also a contributing writer to the books “Politics in America” and “Congressional Districts in the 1990s.”

Mahtesian has served as an election night analyst for National Public Radio and appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including NPR’s “All Things Considered," MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," and on FOX News, C-SPAN, CNN and the BBC.

He has written for a variety of newspapers, journals, and magazines including The Washington Post, The Weekly Standard, National Journal, Congress Daily, Government Executive, and Campaigns and Elections.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in politics from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and his J.D. from American University.

About The Author

Emily Schultheis is a national political reporter and author of POLITICO Pro’s daily Morning Score tipsheet. She joined POLITICO as a 2010 summer intern, then filed stories on the 2010 Pennsylvania Senate and gubernatorial races and the 2012 election throughout her senior year at the University of Pennsylvania. Since arriving full-time at POLITICO in summer 2011, Schultheis spent the 2012 cycle writing for the “Burns & Haberman” blog and traveling the country with different presidential candidates. She took over Morning Score in January 2013.

In summer 2013, Schultheis was one of ten American journalists selected for the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship, an international reporting program for young journalists. She spent two months covering the German election in Berlin for POLITICO and SPIEGEL International.

Schultheis began covering politics for The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn’s student-run newspaper, in 2008, trailing Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton throughout Philadelphia during the lead-up to the Pennsylvania primary. Her work has also appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia City Paper and UWIRE’s Youth Vote ‘08 blog. She graduated summa cum laude from Penn with a degree in English literature in May 2011.

Schultheis, originally from the San Francisco Bay area, now lives in Arlington.

About The Author

Dan Hirschhorn is a reporter.

Prior to joining POLITICO, Hirschhorn was founding editor and publisher of pa2010.com, an insider political news website based in his native Philadelphia. Launched in 2009, the site was the authoritative source for for Pennsylvania political news during the 2010 election cycle.

Hirschhorn also worked as a reporter in Philadelphia for the Politicker network, and has reported for newspapers in Philadelphia and Massachusetts, where he attended Brandeis University. He won a Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors award in enterprise journalism for his coverage of Philadelphia’s troubled family court system.

A dog enthusiast, Hirschhorn lives in Washington with his goldendoodle.